Packers’ Bo Melton Ready for Another Brother Battle

“It means a lot,” he said. “I know that they think highly of me as a player and person, and I don’t take that for granted ever. I’m a competitor. I want to win. I want to be on the field, I want to make plays. That’s just my mindset because I played football for a long time. I feel happy when they give me the ball. Whenever they give me an opportunity, I feel like I take advantage of it.”

Max Melton probably will have a much bigger role than his older brother. He’s started all five appearances this season. When healthy, he’s played almost every snap. He has four pass breakups this season after having five in 17 games as a rookie. He’s still looking for his first NL interception.

“Max, the more he plays, the better he gets,” LaFleur said. “He’s very competitive. I think the one thing that stands out is his recovery speed is real. There’s a couple clips on tape where you think they might [beat him]. There was a clip in the Seattle game and they’re running a pylon route, which is a deep corner, and they kind of get behind the defense. His recovery speed’s real, so he was right there to make a play on the ball.”

While Max Melton is a fixture on Arizona’s defense, Bo Melton is still learning the tricks of his new trade.

Bo Melton wasn’t moved to cornerback until minicamp. To help with the transition, he worked with his brother, a second-round pick last year. 

“He’s doing good,” Max Melton said to reporters in Arizona this week. “He hasn't really asked me too much, so I take it that's he's been doing good. And I've heard that from a couple players. It's rare that that happens, so I'm proud of him.”

There will be between 20 and 25 friends and family members in attendance for Sunday’s game, Bo Melton said.

“Most of my family planned it before, so they took care of it, which I’m grateful for,” Bo Melton said. “We got them living good right now.”

The brothers talk frequently. This week’s conversation was focused on family travel and accommodations and not the game.

“When it gets to the game, we just play,” Bo Melton said. “We’ve been playing the game for a long time, so we just go out there and compete. We’ve played with each other all our lives, so it’s nothing different, really.”

The brothers swapped jerseys after last year’s game at Lambeau Field. They probably will again on Sunday, though it won’t be quite the novelty this time.

“They’ll be wearing their red ones, so I’ll have a red jersey of his,” Bo Melton said. “If somebody else asks for it, I’ll let them get it. I have one of his jerseys. I can get 30 of them.”